Duty of the King

The name of the Lord thy God is great and gloriousabove all other names.

1. THE King, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom and ruleth, shall write for him a copy of the Book of the Law, according to that which is before the Lord continually; and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that the fear of the Lord his God be continually before him, and that he remember the Law, and forget not to administer justice and judgment throughout the earth; and that he turn not aside from the Commandment one way or the other;1 to the end that he prolong his days in the Kingdom, and of his children among the faithful.112 words,455 letters.

2. He shall execute judgment among the people, and over the Princes and Rulers, and over all that sit in judgment: he shall deliver the poor, the needy, and the oppressed: and if their cry be faint, yet shall he hear;2 he shall be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow, and a guardian to him who hath no protector. 63 words,254 letters.

[1 Deut. Xvii, 18, 19. [2 Ps. lxxii, 2, 4, 12-14. Isa. xi, 4.

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3. He shall overthrow the rebellious, destroy traitors, and punish those that do wickedly. The haughty shall he make low, and the oppressor shall he tread down: those that exalt themselves, shall he abase.33 words,163 letters.4. The power of the Lord God, he giveth to him, to rule the nations, and to execute judgments among the children of men: he shall declare the Laws and Commandments; exercise his dominion; and cast a shield round about the children of his people; that his dominion be not taken from him forever.53 words,231 letters.Total—4 sec., 261 words, 1,103 letters.

1. Whoever is called Patriarch, without a dominion, is called a King, if he has dominion. Peter calls David a Patriarch, using the words King and Patriarch as synonyms. (Acts ii, 29.)2. Abraham, though he never reigned as King, but only ruled as the Father of his people, in a country subject to various surrounding Kings, was yet mourned as a King at his death. (Jasher xxvi, 30, 31.) Numerous Kings attended his burial, and the nations around mourned him. Many of his grandsons became Nobles, and Rulers of cities and nations; (Gen. xxv, 16. xxxvi, 15-19, 21, 29, 30. 1st Chron. i, 43, 51-54;) and their posterity were finally established as Kings. (Gen. xxxvi, 31.)3. The Kingly office has oftenest been merely an appendage of the Prophetick. When not possessed of a dominion, it can exercise no civil prerogative, except by voluntary submission.